* Maynard greets the assembled heroes, congratulating them on the previous night's efforts.

"Alright, everybody- we DEFINITELY made an impact last night! And while there were some snafus that weren't so much fun, the outlook is DEFINITELY positive! Actual SUPER-VILLAINS in your debut was a heck of a thing- I just thought this would be a GANG war! This is TERRIFIC!" he says, showing obvious enthusiasm.

"So while some of the HeroWatcher-people are harping on us" he says, gesturing to screens which show headlines like Foreign Nationals & Aliens Control New Super-Team and the like, "the outlook is mostly positive. Having a celebrity or recognizable hero or two has definitely helped."

"However, there is some BAD news to share with you all", he says, a bit sheepish. "You all might have noticed that Mako was held back from the mission. It turns out that an immediate emergency broke out in her home country, and New Zealand needed her more than us. I'm bummed- she had a great energy and would have been great on camera, but c'est la vie. We'll be here when and if she comes back. Similarly, our teammate Galactica is indisposed for the moment, for reasons she'd like to keep private at the moment. I think a fact-finding mission or two on Earth would be good for her. Mustang isn't here at the moment, but he will be shortly; he's just held up at home".

"on the PLUS side" Maynard adds, "we have access to a NEW member- somebody with a more well-rounded skill-set, less focused on heavy-hitting. And she can fly our PLANE- everyone say hello to Halcyon!" He says, introducing the new team member. "Halcyon, tell them a bit about yourself".

"So people know who we are now, which is both good and bad. Some villains looking to make a name for themselves could target us, and we might be getting potential recruits. I can still handle the TV stuff, especially since I know a lot of you aren't comfortable on camera" he notes, realizing that Flyby, Semilla and others avoided the cameras like the plague. "Silver Witch, Shield and Galactica all did well, however, especially in light of some hostile press. Nobody lost their tempers, and you all look great as a group!"

(OOC: Okay, now everyone can react to stuff that happened in the mission, talk to each other for a big, and catsi can make his debut as Halcyon, our newest member !)

A shadow stalked through the underground facility used by a group of renegade scientists for experiments on Meta humans. The shadow moved with a certainty as if it knew exactly where it was going, the main control room. as the Shadow entered the room via a vent that it carefully jimmied open then moved slowly and cautiously across the ceiling gecko like thanks to the suit it wore which used state of the art tech that allowed the shadow to cling to walls like a lizard while simultaneously blending into the area like a chameleon. A quick scan of the room showed six individuals all in lab coats and another six in military uniforms.

Those six were the ones that concerned the shadow in this moment. they were barking orders and threatening scientist that dawdled in carrying out those orders.

"Hurry Up!!" one particularly big one with a buzzcut and a face that looked like the industrial end of a bulldozer barked and snarled. "Orders from the top authorities are on the way we clear everything and sanitize the area! Move now or get cleaned up with the lab!"

As he gestured around the shadow looked down and noted that scientists were typing furiously on computers preparing them to be wiped. there was a sigh the sound muffled by the full mask and cowl the shadow wore. The shadow checked a display on the HUD of the cowl and mask seeing that the assault teams were in place and waiting on the signal. See Buzzcut was partly right the authorities weren't on the way, they were already here.

The shadow dropped down soundlessly and landed like a cat behind one of the guards who never even saw what hit him as a wire wrapped around his neck strangling any noise he might make and jerking him backwards and around where the shadow threw a knee into the mans groin and followed it up by slamming the mans face into a metal railing hard enough to render him unconscious. The brief struggle was drowned out by the hustle and bustle around the room, and the shadow dragged the unconscious body into a corner. Then a muffled voice whispered in a cool tone.

"Halcyon to assault team begin infiltration, base is on sanitization protocol, I should have security down in two minutes confirm."

"Confirm Halcyon infiltration underway how many hostiles?"

"Count a dozen hostiles, in attendance, six have been neutralized.." the shadow suddenly lunged out and slapped a hand over the mouth of a one of the guard who got to close and wrapped an arm around the mans throat and squeezed like a vice until the man stopped struggling and slipped into unconsciousness "Make that seven neutralized, you should have a clear path but advise caution anyways."

The shadow nodded and then looked up carefully over the railing to observe the room. Buzzcut had stepped out of the room harrying a couple of scientists in the process, that left one guard who in a fit of pique backhanded a scientist who went down with a cry of pain. The woman cringed on the ground as the guard stood over her and raised a booted foot while her colleague pleaded with him to stop.

The shadow didn't wait for the boot to descend it crossed the room on silent footfalls the blurry image drawing a gasp from the downed woman. the guard never saw it coming as a metal snap baton slammed into the back of his knee with a brutal crunch which brought a cry of agony from his lips. the shadow snapped the baton back and the injured guard could only stare in horror as a pair of glowing red eyes in a blurry face glared down at him then a blurred arm raised up and brought the baton down in a quick hard series of strikes that laid the man unconscious on the floor.

A modulated voice harsh and cold came from the Shadow "Stop the erase sequence now."

"We cant, the Security code needs a key , and the chief has it." the downed woman was nearly hysterical as she pointed in the direction Buzzcut had gone.

The shadow sighed, never easy, nope not in this line of work. the shadow turned as a sound of surprise caught its attention. Buzzcut followed by the four remaining guards entered the room. "What the hell!?" Buzzcut howled seeing the downed guard and the intruder and roared. "GET HIM!!"

Under the cowl and mask a pair of lips smiled wickedly as the guards rushed the blur.

--ooOoo--

Far away Maynard sat at his desk, he'd been long deliberating whether this was the right call, to bring this woman onto the team, She had worked well for him so far performing several missions and gathering data on his prospective new teammates but to actually have her as part of the team that was a whole different can of worms. he deliberated for a long time before picking up the phone and dialing the number she had given him.

The phone rang several times before a womans voice answered. "Hello pardon me a moment..."there was a sound of grunting, multiple gunshots which caused him to flinch some unintelligent shouting and a few hard impacts including at least one explosion before she spoke again.

"Maynard I'm a bit busy with your last request so what can I do for you?" her voice was mostly neutral though he thought he detected a hint of annoyance.

"I've been doing some thinking I want you to join the League full time. I think it would be good for you to come in out of the cold."

There was another round of gunfire, several more painful impacts and another set of unintelligible shouting Before the she spoke again clearly her voice strained as if she was exerting herself.

"Maynard I'll have to call you back." the line went dead and Maynard was left staring at the phone wondering just what had happened, as he watched the news reports of the Teams fight with the Weapons Masters and Hillbillies last night.

--ooOoo--

A few moments later found the shadow groaning as it peeled itself off the ground and stumble shakily to its feet where it reached up and pulled off the mask and cowl revealing a womans face. She was beautiful as any Hollywood starlet with full smooth features, and full red lips beneath a soft nose. Piercing blue eyes the color of blue skies after a rain looked over the carnage of the last several seconds namely five unconscious guards including Buzzcut. The woman shook her head causing a waterfall of hip length platinum blond hair to come loose from the ponytail she had it in.

She reached down and hefted Buzzcut who it turned out had been a low level meta human with enhanced strength. She grunted slightly as her ribs ached from the fight with the offspring of a gorilla and a linebacker who hadn't wanted to go down easy. Lifting the unconscious man up with a grunt she muscled his hand up and onto the biometric panel, and pushed his face, now a bit uglier then before if that were possible onto a scanner that rose up. A flash of lights and a green glow as the scanner read the mans face and accepted its input bringing up a command prompt. She let the body drop which it did with a meaty thud and then sat down to type a rapid fire string of commands into the computer halting the self destruct sequence and formatting of the bases servers. She didn't turn around from her work as the FBI assault team came into the room weapons drawn and balked at the mess seeing the guards all laid out. The team leader, Sergeant Eric Brauner if she recalled correctly checked one of the men and grunted to find him alive, as he would with the others. She sniffed disdainfully but Maynards request to her to avoid excess bloodshed had been most specific, and so she had complied, No dead, just some long hospital stays in the bad guys futures.

Brauner stepped up next to her and looked over her shoulder whistling as he did at the amount of information scrolling across the screen. " Is that all of it?" he asked

"Not all of it, this is only a sub lab of the main hub I was hoping there would be a connection but at the moment it looks like that was the first thing they severed." she replied cooly "I've managed to isolatre what you and the Attorney General will need to build a case." she finished typing and handed Brauner a datastick which he secured.

"What about you, sticking around for beers after this?" he smirked a rogueish smile at her but she only shook her head and gave an equally sultry smirk in return. "Other issues require my attention, I"m afraid I'm on the first plane out tonight. Good luck with the trials."

He was too busy watching her exit firm rear end swaying flirtatiously as she did to notice that she had palmed a copy of the data especially a very specific set of files on one Xavion Thomas. She smiled as she passed the other agents who were securing the scientists and guards and beginning to collect evidence. No one saw her leave.

A couple of hours later found her on board Humayne Enterprises private jet winging its way home. She worked on the files she'd obtained patching them into a file for delivery to Maynards secure servers as well as a copy for her own personal insurance policy. As she worked she connected a call via a wireless comms sytem . Maynards face appeared on the view screen of the jets tv system.

" I have the files Maynard, the information was solid, though they were expecting some sort of attack because they were in the process fo shutting down the lab and cleaning it before i stopped them. Please thank the FBI director for the loan of the HRT team."

"Excellent work as always, I presume you're on your way back?" he asked easily as he began receiving the files she was sending him.

"Of course." I should arrive in eight hours barring delays and a nice shower. She sighed at the thought. She caught the look on his face and stopped him with a look of her own. "I'll think about it Hubert. See you in a while." she then cut the call and relaxed back as one of the stewardesses brought her a glass of wine and some food which she thanked her for before eating hardily.

--ooOoo--

several hours and a long soak in a shower later found her in Maynards office going over the groups activities of a few nights ago. She shook her head critically at some of their antics but grudgingly admitted to their potential. She hadn't quite thought Maynard was thinking clearly when he had her test them, but they came together better then she thought. They were rough around the edges but she had no doubts Harry would pull them together over time.

"So what do you think?"

"they're rough around the edges..." she answered maynard who stood in the doorway. "Who knows it might be fun to work with people not caught up in military discipline for a change."she shrugged easily. "Besides I haven't worked with Harry since that thing in Montreal." she sighed wistfully as if remembering fun times and more before her face took on a decidedly impish grin.

"Also the look on Xavions face when I see him again should be priceless."

A short bit later she heard Maynard speaking to the group and sighed as she introduced her so grandly she shook her head and stepped through the door of the office her eyes moving slowly over the group most of whom had only ever seen her in some disguise or another. Only Xavion who she'd had a brief sitdown with to catch up, and Harry knew anything about her and what she really was. She wasnt quite certain what those twos reactions would be, but she was curious for certain.

This promised to be very interesting indeedShe stood there dressed in a form fitting tailored suit knee length skirts hem just above her knees, long blond hair over her shouldner loose and comfortable if fashionable shoes. Her red lips smile warmly at the gathered heroes while piercing blue eyes seemed to read each of them in turn.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all. Please call be Rena when in private. I look forward to working with you all."

Bit wordy but I love a good story

Harry and Xavion both know her and have worked with her before unless either Arkite or Thorp objects then Ill make adjustments as requested.

Ill leave the nature of those missions and interactons if any for future roleplay

Last edited by catsi563 on Mon Nov 05, 2018 7:54 am, edited 1 time in total.

Dr. Silverback has wryly observed that this is like trying to teach lolcats about Shakespeare

Upon returning to the HuMayne Enterprises building after the team left the petting zoo, he had retrieved his suitcase, changed into his civilian clothes again, and had headed to an Extended Stay hotel to get a room. He didn't know, yet, how long it would take to find a flat.

He didn't know what, if anything, the rest of the team had done after they had returned. He had excused himself and left for the hotel. Even with the stamina of Hercules, the previous day had been long. The mythological Hercules had never had to deal with jet-lag, and there was a five time zone difference between Paris and Mega City.

Once he was checked into his room, he turned on the television, found a movie station, and went to bed with the movie still on. He hoped that the English spoken in the movie had gotten into his brain via osmosis. He hoped his English would be better today, on day deux.

Still, the sleep had done him good. As had the shower when he awoke.

So, now le Petit Hercule was once again in the Victory League meeting room, listening to Hubert Maynard talk about the Victory League. And now he knew what had happened to Mako. That Mustang was running late wasn't completely surprising. Adrien had gotten the feeling that Todd's extended adoptive family (or 'family/not-family' as Mustang would probably say) was pretty large, and between that and his existing hero duties, it made sense he was busy.

This promised to be very interesting indeed. She stood there dressed in a form fitting tailored suit knee length skirts hem just above her knees, long blond hair over her shoulder, loose and comfortable if fashionable shoes. Her red lips smile warmly at the gathered heroes while piercing blue eyes seemed to read each of them in turn.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all. Please call be Rena when in private. I look forward to working with you all."

The blonde was tall and striking.

"Bonjour mademoiselle." Adrien said, out of habit. "Rena, was it? I am le Petit Hercule. In private, I am called Adrien. It is nice to welcome you."

Maki was reclining in a chair with a cup of tea when Rena walked in. She'd reshuffled her biology again: no longer green, with no tail, and in jeans and a sweater instead of a costume or a lab coat, she looked almost normal, except for her unusual physique. She watched the screens and smiled. "One of the richest men in the city builds a private metahuman army, and people worry that he hires foreigners for it. America and Japan really aren't so different from each other, are they?"

She studied Rena over her teacup. "Hello, pilot Rena. I'm Makiko Wintour, the world's leading medical scholar. I won't presume you've heard of me, but I forgive you for your ignorance."

Last edited by RainOnTheSun on Tue Oct 23, 2018 1:34 am, edited 1 time in total.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all. Please call be Rena when in private. I look forward to working with you all."

Rosa offers a friendly smile. "Rosa, though, 'Semilla' out in the field. Magic knowledge and support. What are your areas of expertise?
General super butt-kicker like most the rest of these guys?" she asks, not demanding, but curious and playful.

As Slyce entered the building a few minutes late for the meeting, he smiled as he read the texts from his kids after seeing him with the Victory League on the local news.

From Janita - Way to go, daddy! That is kewl. Can I meet the witch girl? She looks awesome! XOXO – Your Princess

From Julius II - You’re a superhero. Dope. Grandma says you need to smile more. Do they have a spaceship? Can you get me a ride on it?

Things were working out so far. Kids and grandparents are proud. Whooped some ass in the fight and no one died. Good new teammates. Cool boss.

“Yeah, things are looking up,” he muttered to himself as he opened the door to the conference room.

As he entered, he heard Mayne introducing the newest team member.

"we have access to a NEW member- somebody with a more well-rounded skill-set, less focused on heavy-hitting. And she can fly our PLANE- everyone say hello to Halcyon!" He says, introducing the new team member. "Halcyon, tell them a bit about yourself".

"It's a pleasure to meet you all. Please call be Rena when in private. I look forward to working with you all."

The smile drained from his face.

The hopefulness he felt left his spirit.

Her.

He couldn’t stop the louder-than-he-planned “Goddammit” from coming out as he stood stunned, looking at his old rival being announced as his new teammate.

Ariana was practically blushing, first Rosa and now Rena, why was she reacting this way. "Nice to meet you, Rena. I go by Silver Witch, something about the nature of my powers mask my true identity unless you see me transform into my costume. I'm the resident geek with pop culture knowledge on the team, in addition to powers I've only just started testing the limits of."

"Bonjour mademoiselle." Adrien said, out of habit. "Rena, was it? I am le Petit Hercule. In private, I am called Adrien. It is nice to welcome you."

"Bonjour Adrien son agréable de vous rencontrer." She replied easily with a genuine smile her French as smooth as silk and easily as comfortable on the streets of Paris as the gardens of Calais.

She studied Rena over her teacup. "Hello, pilot Rena. I'm Makiko Wintour, the world's leading medical scholar. I won't presume you've heard of me, but I forgive you for your ignorance."

Renas smile never dimmed or even faltered as she responded in Japanese that was as fluent as any person born on Hokaido >>"Quite the contrary Doctor Wintour, Your thesis on using Octopus regeneration to regrow limbs was fascinating, and the study of Shark genes to counter Alzheimer's shows promise/"<< She bowed politely before moving on.

Rosa offers a friendly smile. "Rosa, though, 'Semilla' out in the field. Magic knowledge and support. What are your areas of expertise?
General super butt-kicker like most the rest of these guys?" she asks, not demanding, but curious and playful.

Rena cant help but let loose a friendly laugh and give Rosa a warmer smile "Oh a bit of this, a bit of that I..." she pauses thoughtfully as if the question were perplexing "..I'm a sort of jack of all trades master of a few."

"It's a pleasure to meet you all. Please call be Rena when in private. I look forward to working with you all."

The smile drained from his face.

The hopefulness he felt left his spirit.

Her.

He couldn’t stop the louder-than-he-planned “Goddammit” from coming out as he stood stunned, looking at his old rival being announced as his new teammate.

And then there was Xavion oh she was enjoying this a bit her smile had become positively sharklike but mixed with a sultry warmth that would have melted an ice cube if she left it on too long. "Xavion, its wonderful to see you again, and such a surprise after we just ran into each other less then a week ago."

She sauntered closer to him and made a show of taking a deep breath while dragging a gentle hand across his chin before moving away with an amused chuckle and a little sway of her hips.

Harry smiles to himself at the appearance of another familiar face.

"Rena," he says, "Been staying out of trouble?"

Its as she approaches Harry that her demeanor shifts again she stands a little straighter and while maintaining a professional demeanor her eyes show a genuine affection Harry, you're looking well."

to his question she gets that impish grin again and shrugs casually which Harry is experienced enough to know means Up to my neck headfirst in it as always.

Ariana was practically blushing, first Rosa and now Rena, why was she reacting this way. "Nice to meet you, Rena. I go by Silver Witch, something about the nature of my powers mask my true identity unless you see me transform into my costume. I'm the resident geek with pop culture knowledge on the team, in addition to powers I've only just started testing the limits of

"Its very nice to meet you Ariana, I saw youtube footage of you talking a jumper down off a roof not more then a month ago, very well done." Renas smile is again genuine and warm when directed at Ariana.

Sawyer smiled and mini-saluted towards the new teammate, "Nice to meet you Rena. I'm Flyby (Sawyer in private), I'm the team hotshot, comedian, rising star, handsome man, modest hero, etc. Sounds like you have call the other skills covered, so it should be interesting once we get out in the field again."

"A pleasure Sawyer, it's nice to meet you as well." She answers him easily "I hope I can add to the team in my own way." she adds her smile friendly and again a hint of mischievousness in her manner.

She spends the next few minutes engaging in small talk flowing easily from one topic to the next, and teasing Xavion a little here and there but more in fun and not rubbing her presence in any more then really needed. Still though for all the talk shes very coy about her abilities or history casually deflecting such topics with an almost practiced ease as if locking her down in conversation were the equivalent of grabbing a greased eel, as she subtly redirects any queries or reframes any conversation towards the other participants.

"Hello Adrien its nice to meet you. "

mostly use >><< for future Linguistics shes a bit of a polygot and so speaks about a couple dozen languages fluently

Last edited by catsi563 on Fri Oct 26, 2018 7:00 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Dr. Silverback has wryly observed that this is like trying to teach lolcats about Shakespeare

She studied Rena over her teacup. "Hello, pilot Rena. I'm Makiko Wintour, the world's leading medical scholar. I won't presume you've heard of me, but I forgive you for your ignorance."

Renas smile never dimmed or even faltered as she responded in Japanese that was as fluent as any person born on Hokaido >>"Quite the contrary Doctor Winter, Your thesis on using Octopus regeneration to regrow limbs was fascinating, and the study of Shark genes to counter Alzheimer's shows promise/"<< She bowed politely before moving on.

"Hm!" Maki raised her eyebrows. "Hubert, I like this one. But she is suspiciously secretive." She looked over at Slyce, who seemed to know her. "Xavion, explain."

Hercule looked over at Dr. Mercury, confused. Hercule knew Slyce. He had fought both against and alongside Xavion in Paris. He trusted him. But he wasn't sure why Dr. Mercury was trusting him; he was suspiciously secretive himself.

"I don't recall Slyce giving the team a ... how do you say? An autobiography. Asking one secretive type to explain another seems bizarre."

And then there was Xavion oh she was enjoying this a bit her smile had become positively sharklike but mixed with a sultry warmth that would have melted an ice cube if she left it on too long. "Xavion, its wonderful to see you again, and such a surprise after we just ran into each other less then a week ago."

She sauntered closer to him and made a show of taking a deep breath while dragging a gentle hand across his chin before moving away with an amused chuckle and a little sway of her hips.

Hercule looked over at Dr. Mercury, confused. Hercule knew Slyce. He had fought both against and alongside Xavion in Paris. He trusted him. But he wasn't sure why Dr. Mercury was trusting him; he was suspiciously secretive himself.

"I don't recall Slyce giving the team a ... how do you say? An autobiography. Asking one secretive type to explain another seems bizarre."

See? This is how it starts every time, Slyce thinks to himself as he quickly surveys the situation. She shows up, and everything changes! I was getting ready to really start talking to my new team, I’m in a good mood, everything is coming together and then…BAM!

Well, this time, little miss Rena, things are different! I’m a good guy now. I’m gonna be the man I always wanted to be. The biggest thing I missed about losing football was being part of a team. And this is gonna be a great one, I can feel it. I’m not gonna let her screw it up. And she can screw things up, like Sri Lanka…

Sri Lanka…the gun runner was the mark…both our marks, apparently…of course, she gets him. I mean, at least that’s another life I don’t have to regret taking, but what The Agency did to me for failing…oh, I owe her for that…

…But then there was the hot tub…damn…

How long have I been standing here not saying anything? DAMN IT, that’s what she does to me! Answer the question, X!

…God, she smells good…

FOCUS!

“Well, call me Johnny, ‘cause it looks like I’m on the SPOT,” Slyce said to the team with a wink after Doc Mercury’s comment. He moved more towards the center of the room. “First off, for those I haven’t officially met outside of our little dust up with The Weapon Masters, I’m Xavion Thomas, also known as Slyce. Second, sorry about missing the first meeting. I have some other responsibilities that I will need to deal with from time to time, but I want to let you all know that I will never not be here when you need me.” He touched his fist to his chest. “We a team now, and I always got my teammates backs. Recon’ize.”

“Pete, thanks for having MY back,” he said tapping his fist to his chest and pointing at Hercules. “But it’s cool, I got nothing to hide anymore. Unlike some people…” He glared at Halcyon for a few seconds then he softened his look and shifted his gaze over to Doc Mercury.

“Doc, truth be told, little miss tight ass outfit over there and I have done some…less than…well, questionable…well, honestly, we’ve done some flat out bad things. Hurt people. And worse.” He pulled off his shades so everyone could see his eyes. His now glassy eyes.

“It wasn’t all me, but it was me. But I’m not that dude anymore. And Doc is helping make sure that dude never comes back. Mr. Mayne is giving me this chance to make up for some of the bad things I’ve done and I’m going to take full advantage of it. And I look forward to doing that with you all. Sure, we need some work but I think this team is going to be great. I think we’re going to kick all kinds of ass and help a lot of people. But I’ve been on enough teams to know, in order to be a great team, there has to be trust. From what I saw last night, I can tell I’m surrounded by people who I can trust.”

“But now,” he said, the confidence returning to his eyes and his glare going back to Halcyon. “There’s someone here that I just miiiight not be able to trust. If Mr. Mayne does, I guess that might have to be enough for me. We’ll let this play out. I just wanted everyone to know that if...and that’s an ‘if’ leaning towards a ‘when’, my concerns are validated, well…no one can say they weren’t warned.”

"Said my piece. New business?"

He then moved over to chair next to Hercules and sat, arms crossed, keeping his focus squarely on Halcyon. He even succeeded in keeping his sightlines off her posterior.

“Doc, truth be told, little miss tight ass outfit over there and I have done some…less than…well, questionable…well, honestly, we’ve done some flat out bad things. Hurt people. And worse.” He pulled off his shades so everyone could see his eyes. His now glassy eyes.

“It wasn’t all me, but it was me. But I’m not that dude anymore. And Doc is helping make sure that dude never comes back. Mr. Mayne is giving me this chance to make up for some of the bad things I’ve done and I’m going to take full advantage of it. And I look forward to doing that with you all. Sure, we need some work but I think this team is going to be great. I think we’re going to kick all kinds of ass and help a lot of people. But I’ve been on enough teams to know, in order to be a great team, there has to be trust. From what I saw last night, I can tell I’m surrounded by people who I can trust.”

“But now,” he said, the confidence returning to his eyes and his glare going back to Halcyon. “There’s someone here that I just miiiight not be able to trust. If Mr. Mayne does, I guess that might have to be enough for me. We’ll let this play out. I just wanted everyone to know that if...and that’s an ‘if’ leaning towards a ‘when’, my concerns are validated, well…no one can say they weren’t warned.”

Rosa frowns in thought. "Uh, Rena, were you similarly 'not yourself' when you and Xavier did those 'bad things'?" she asks hesitantly and maybe a little apologetically.

Rosa frowns in thought. "Uh, Rena, were you similarly 'not yourself' when you and Xavier did those 'bad things'?" she asks hesitantly and maybe a little apologetically.

Renas expression never changes while Xavion speaks though she affects a humerous 'you wound me' look as he sits down and Rosa asks her a question that by all rights she should respond to by lying like a rug. Still Harry is there giving her "that look" and all teasing aside she figures honesty is the best policy in this case.

Shes always had a great poker face and it remains in place save maybe in her eyes where, well if the eyes are the windows to the soul shes glad hers have heavy curtians because shes had to do some things to survive that one doesnt talk about in pleasant company.

Hoensty then. She looks at Rosa meeting her gaze evenly and speaking softly but firmly with maybe a hint of melancholy in her voice and around her lips "No; I was always myself."

Dr. Silverback has wryly observed that this is like trying to teach lolcats about Shakespeare